Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Carter’s from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Carter’s in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Carter’s from $42.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Carter’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Carter’s from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.62.

Carter’s Stock Performance

NYSE CRI opened at $34.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.78, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.16. Carter’s has a twelve month low of $27.86 and a twelve month high of $44.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Carter’s (NYSE:CRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The textile maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $752.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $747.34 million. Carter’s had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 13.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Carter’s will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carter’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Carter’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carter’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Carter’s by 16,840.0% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 847 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Carter’s by 3,889.3% during the 3rd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,117 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP raised its position in shares of Carter’s by 2,314.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 1,497 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Carter’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Carter’s during the 1st quarter valued at $119,000.

Carter’s Company Profile

Carter’s, Inc (NYSE:CRI) is a major designer, source and marketer of apparel and related products for babies and young children. The company offers clothing, accessories, footwear, gifts and other products for infants, toddlers and children through brands including Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Little Planet and Skip Hop.

Founded in 1865, Carter’s has built a long-standing presence in the children’s apparel market. Its products are sold through company-operated retail stores, e-commerce websites and wholesale partners, including department stores, mass merchants and specialty retailers.